Overall, Game two in Vegas became increasingly tough to watch as the Raptors summer league squad appears to be lacking talent in comparison to their opponents so far. Perimeter shooting especially haunted Toronto (5-31, 16.1% from three). The Raps fell behind by double digits for good in the second quarter.
But it’s just summer league! Some observations:
Gradey Dick
Gradey admitted his struggles against Chicago on Friday, saying it was an eye opening experience. He was aggressive early, with six of his 13 shot attempts coming in the first quarter. Lack of familiarity throughout the roster led to Dick creating more off the dribble than he will be expected to in his rookie season, but it was fun to see these shots fall.
Gradey’s cleanest look of the game came from Markquis Nowell, who collapsed the defence on a drive.
Dick only took two shots in the second half, finishing with a team-high tying 11 points. Defensively, the rookie also appeared to be more in place than the first game.
Markquis Nowell
Nowell is the lone plus playmaker on the Raps summer league roster. He missed his first eight shots and didn’t score until the second half, but did a masterful job early of finding open shooters. There was potential for a 10+ assist game but the looks simply didn’t fall.
However this was a sweet bounce pass to Moses Wright.
Like Gradey, Markquis didn’t play as much in the second half as others got more time. He forced a couple of passes in tight windows for turnovers later in the game but overall was solid running the offence, finishing with five points and four assists.
Defensively, Nowell is already showing tendencies from former small Raptor guards.
Moses Brown, Mouhamadou Gueye, Ron Harper Jr.
Brown can provide some rim protection and offensive rebounding. He had a block, possibly two if not for a questionable goaltending call. Also got an and-one play off a board. Mobility defensively is an issue that can be exposed.
Gueye had mixed bag. Airballed a free throw and missed all four of his three point attempts, but did have two blocks. Gueye also challenged guys at the rim numerous times, finally succeeding in the third quarter.
Harper went 3-10 from the field for seven points, probably forcing a couple of shots. Also, this wasn’t ideal.
Reserve Notes
- Joe Wieskamp shot 0-5, including 0-4 from three. That’s supposed to be his strength, he will need to be more reliable to make a roster.
- David Johnson (Raptors 2nd round pick in 2021) also went 0-5.
- D.J. Hogg was the only Raptor to make multiple threes in this game (2-6). He tied Dick with 11 points and helped the Raptors chip away at a 20 point deficit briefly in the fourth quarter. He also added two blocks.
Other Notes
- Isaiah Mobley made the biggest impact in the first half, getting to the free throw line 14 (!!) times. The Raptors as a team shot two free throws in the first half. The disparity evened out somewhat in the second half.
- Sam Merrill went on a personal 9-0 run with three straight treys to put Cleveland up 20 in the third quarter.
- Emoni Bates had 12 points and eight boards.
Remaining Raptors Summer League Schedule
- Wednesday July 12 vs Detroit (6pm EDT, TSN4/ESPN2)
- Thursday July 13 vs Brooklyn (5pm EDT, Sportsnet 360/ESPN2)
